Be nice to our DME drivers

[drinkme]

I tip $1 per bag that gets stashed under the bus -- with a $5 minimum. These guys do a lot of heavy lifting -- and i appreciate their services.

That's what I do to. $1 per bag. It doesn't matter if he's pleasant or not. I've had very cheerful drivers, and very grumpy drivers. I still tip $1 a bag. If I have no bag, then no tip.

I also tip a waitress if all she does is take my order, bring my food, and then the check. We've all had the bad waitress that only does that, never refills drinks, never finds out if our meat is cooked properly, etc. But, we still tip them. It's just something I do, doesn't matter what the service is anymore.

I refuse to tip a barista. That just seems asking for too much. You poured a cup of coffee!!!! lol. OK, some of the coffees my kids get are a bit fancy, but I'm still not tipping them.

 

[goofy4tink]

That's what I do to. $1 per bag. It doesn't matter if he's pleasant or not. I've had very cheerful drivers, and very grumpy drivers. I still tip $1 a bag. If I have no bag, then no tip.

I also tip a waitress if all she does is take my order, bring my food, and then the check. We've all had the bad waitress that only does that, never refills drinks, never finds out if our meat is cooked properly, etc. But, we still tip them. It's just something I do, doesn't matter what the service is anymore.

I refuse to tip a barista. That just seems asking for too much. You poured a cup of coffee!!!! lol. OK, some of the coffees my kids get are a bit fancy, but I'm still not tipping them.

My issue with this? It tends to reward less than wonderful service. If I get a driver that is grumpy, or less than communicative, and I have no bag? He gets nothing. Even if I had a bag I would be hard pressed to hand over a tip. If drivers want to be tipped, they need to up their game, so to speak. On the other hand, if an ice cream stand employee is friendly and does the job efficiently, we will leave a dollar or two in her tip cup. It's all in the attitude.

And those people that grab their bags because they're afraid DME will 'lose' them? Yet they allow an airline to take care of those same bags, especially on a connecting flight? Amazing. At least if DME misdirects baggage, it's still, most likely, on-site and is easily located and sent to the right place! People are so funny.

 

[heatherbabydoll1]

bump

 

[bdoyledimou]

My issue with this? It tends to reward less than wonderful service. If I get a driver that is grumpy, or less than communicative, and I have no bag?.

Sometimes the grumpy folks just need a smile and some magic -- and sometimes they dont and are just grumpy -- but i let them decide.

my family also routinely "pays it backwards" by paying for the car behind us in the drive through - -sometimes its $1.85 -- sometimes its $20 -- but it makes the person smile and brightens their day.

 

[goofy4tink]

Sometimes the grumpy folks just need a smile and some magic -- and sometimes they dont and are just grumpy -- but i let them decide.

my family also routinely "pays it backwards" by paying for the car behind us in the drive through - -sometimes its $1.85 -- sometimes its $20 -- but it makes the person smile and brightens their day.

Oh, I've tried being really cheery and friendly.....have you seen those photos of 'grumpy cat'? Well, that's the look I got on several occasions. If someone can't be pleasant to me, then they aren't getting that magical tip.

 

[anonymousegirl]

I usually have one carry on bag under the bus, and I tip the driver $2.

I also tip housekeeping, even though I usually refuse housekeeping.

I normally stay 4-5 nights and don't need housekeeping daily. Often it is DVC where I don't get daily cleaning anyway. So when I check in I refuse housekeeping, but I always tip when I depart as a thank you for the clean room on arrival.

If I am getting daily cleaning, I tip $5 every day for housekeeping. I leave it on the table for that day's housekeeper, since it isn't always the same person every day.

 

[emilypaul]

Is someone in ypur family a DME driver? Your posts don't sound like a "concerned guest" to me.

Sent from my Kindle Fire using DISBoards

Where did you do your research?

bump

Umm, if you are going to bump this, maybe you should respond to some valid questions.

 

[sonofanarchy]

We tipped the ME driver $5.00 last week. We had a stroller under the bus and a bag. That was enough for us.

Not to go off an a tangent here but tipping has gotten out of control on vacation. I lost track of how much we tipped on our trip, but it was pretty crazy. I understand wait staff don't make a lot of money, so 20% to them is fine. But then we had to tip the car service driver 20%, the valet who let us out of the car and gave us a luggage tag got $10. Then you have to give bell services $20 for bringing your luggage to your room. You get a taxi from a hotel and you need to tip the valet who called the taxi. Then you have to tip that driver. Then you need to tip bell services another $20 for getting your bags when you leave, plus $10 more to them when they get your bags from the back when ME arrives, then the ME driver when you get to the airport.

It really does add up after a while.

 

[tjmw2727]

We use DME at least twice a year and if I have a bag stored under the bus I tip for that no matter what, if the ride is smooth and the service is good I will tip more that the $1 per bag.

If I don't have any bags that won't fit with me on the bus I also plan to tip but like a pp if the driver begs for tips or holds me hostage on the bus while he unloads the bags I may not tip. If he/she if he stands at the door and holds out his hand while guests are exiting ` no tip it just rubs me the wrong way.

Same for the return - if I have bags I will tip no matter what, if I don't it depends.

Unfortunately I have put that $ back in my pocket more times than I would like to have done so.

If a person wants to increase their tips in any profession then IMHO they should take steps to find out what services they can easily provide that produce tips.

I waitressed through college and it became very clear to me early on that if I was not getting tips I was not doing a good enough job of earning them.

 

[goofy4tink]

We tipped the ME driver $5.00 last week. We had a stroller under the bus and a bag. That was enough for us.

Not to go off an a tangent here but tipping has gotten out of control on vacation. I lost track of how much we tipped on our trip, but it was pretty crazy. I understand wait staff don't make a lot of money, so 20% to them is fine. But then we had to tip the car service driver 20%, the valet who let us out of the car and gave us a luggage tag got $10. Then you have to give bell services $20 for bringing your luggage to your room. You get a taxi from a hotel and you need to tip the valet who called the taxi. Then you have to tip that driver. Then you need to tip bell services another $20 for getting your bags when you leave, plus $10 more to them when they get your bags from the back when ME arrives, then the ME driver when you get to the airport.

It really does add up after a while.

It sure does if that's how you really tip!!! The recommended tip for Bell Services is a buck a bag. If I have more than two bags, I tip $5, usually..especially if I have an Owners Locker that needs to be moved. The valet person? Yeah, they get about $3. I tip the car service people each way, so basically 20% split into two payments.

 

[TagsMissy]

Is someone in ypur family a DME driver? Your posts don't sound like a "concerned guest" to me.

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I was beginning to wonder the same thing since you mentioned it. There seems to be a lot of effort being given on this issue and to bump it to keep it going... inquiring minds want to know...

 

[disneyjunkie]

I use DME the way it was designed to be use. I check my luggage here, then it MAGICALLY appears in my room later. There's no need for me to help the magic happen. I only have my carry on when I get to the bus. Those things do not need to be stored under the bus.

I'm not tipping the driver for just transporting me from point A to point B.

OP, do you have any other family members working at WDW? Do you expect us to tip
the counter service CMs
the CMs who load the rides
face painters
the guy scooping popcorn into the cute buckets
Photographers